At the same time, the council gave final approval to a budget of about $41.5 million for the 2013-14 year that begins July 1.

The Times-Picayune reports the City Council was considering slashing $234,600 from the Police Department's $9 million allocation under Mayor Freddy Drennan's proposed budget. Smith lobbied for the council to reduce that amount by half, to $117,300.

After a long debate on Tuesday, the council instead voted 5-4 to reduce the police budget by $176,550, a figure proposed by Councilman Buddy Lloyd as a compromise between the two numbers.

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